Which Way Goes Bihar?

Map of Bihar showing location of Bhimbandh Wildlife Sanctuary (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Advani's Ghost And Nitish
Modi: A Force Of Nature
Elon Musk's Hyperloop And India
नीतिश और लालु को अनुशासन दिखानी होगी
भारतको १५% ग्रोथ रेट चाहिए
Land Acquisition And Labor Mobility
India Agenda: 100 World Class Universities
१५% Growth Rake कैसे Achieve करें
मोदी और सौर्य उर्जा
A Genuine World Government
मोदी, नीतिश, नेपाल, नेपालके मधेसी और मैं
JD (U) 80-90, RJD 50-60, Congress/Left 10-20
Bihar: The NDA's Turn To Crack?
मोदी और नीतिश को एक दुसरे की जरुरत है
Bihar@2025 = $240 Billion
नरेन्द्र मोदी, बिहार और नीतिश कुमार
नीतिश कुमार और नरेंद्र मोदी: दोनों के दोनों

इस साल के बिहार के चुनाव के बारे में मैंने ३०-७०, ४५-५५, ५५-४५, ६५-३५, और अब ५५-४५ की बात की है। अभी जैसा कि मैं देख रहा हुँ नीतिश ५५ और बीजेपी वालों ४५ पर हैं। लेकिन ये बिहार है ("उड़ती चिड़िया को हल्दी लगाती है बिहार का वोटर!" ---- श्री लालु प्रसाद यादव) --- अभी स्थिति फिर भी काफी तरल है।

लालु ने फिर से बखेड़ा किया तो बीजेपी को फ़ायदा हो जाएगी। नीतिश को जो १०० सीट मिलना है, अभी जो उनके पास ११२ है कि क्या है उसी में से वो १०० रखेंगे। लालु इस बात को चैलेंज करने का नाटक करेंगे तो बीजेपी बगैर कैंपेन किए ही जित जाएगी।

लालु ने बखेड़ा किया और नरेंद्र मोदी दो हप्ते लगातार बिहार में बैठ गए, तो हो गइ दोनों की छुट्टी। दोनों को भुतपूर्व मुख्यमंत्री निवास मिला ही है, उसी में बैठेंगे। दोनों पास पास भी है।

नहीं अगर लालु एकता को बनाए रखते हैं, और नीतिश Bihar@2025 की बातको जनताको ठीक से समझा पाते हैं, और नरेंद्र मोदी बिहार में दो हप्ता बिताने के वावजूद बीजेपी बिहार में हार जाती है अगर तो नरेंद्र मोदी को राष्ट्रिय स्तर पर धक्का पहुंचेगा। इस बात को वो जरूर समझते होंगे। अगर नरेंद्र मोदी को लगा कि बिहार में जीत संभव नहीं तो वो शायद ज्यादा समय ना दें --- वैसे भी प्रधान मंत्री बहुत व्यस्त रहते हैं। दुनिया का सबसे व्यस्त आदमी।

Bihar@2025 की ताकत ये है कि आप जनताको सन्देश दे रहे हैं: (१) आप दिल्ली का सपना नहीं देख रहे हैं क्यों कि आप अच्छे हैं तो पटना में रहिए, आप दिल्ली जाइएगा कैसे? फिर एक और जितन को कुर्सी देके बिहार का मजाक उड़बाइयेगा? Bihar became a national joke all over again. पटना में आप जो कर सकते हैं वो और कोइ कर ही नहीं सकता, आप का कोइ उत्तराधिकारी नहीं है। रह गयी दिल्ली की बात तो वो आप जनता पर छोड़ दिजिए, लोकतंत्र है, जनताके निर्णय को स्वीकार किजिए और दिल से किजिए। और जनता ने निर्णय कर लिया है। मोदी। दिल्ली में मोदी अभी १५ या २० साल रहेंगे। आप को पटना में जितना रहना है रहिए। योग किजिए, सेहत बनाए रहिए, और आप भी रहिए १५ साल पटना में। कौन रोक रहा है? और आडवाणी से बचके रहिए। उनको प्रधान मंत्री न बनने का pain है, and misery loves company. व्यक्तिगत तौर पर आप को जिसे मानना है मानिए, लेकिन राजनीति में तो जनता को मानना होता है, जनताके मैंडेट को मानना होता है। (२) आप इंजीनियर पढ़े लोग हैं, physics के laws होते होते हैं उसी तरह politics के भी कुछ laws होते हैं। एक है: All Elections Are About The Future. जनता से बैन नहीं मांगिए, आगे क्या करिएगा वो कहिए। आगे १० साल में आप बिहार को कहाँ ले जाना चाहते हैं --- वो विज़न दिजिए।

ऐसा भी हो सकता है कि नीतिश जित जाते हैं, ५५-४५ की मार्जिन से। उसके एक साल बाद लालु झगड़ा पर उतर आते हैं और अलायन्स टुट जाती है, और बीजेपी फिर जुनियर मेम्बर बन के अलायन्स में आ जाती है। और नीतिश और सुमो मिल के फिर १० साल राज करते हैं, बिहार को एक Golden Age देते हैं, the only state in India growing at 20% per year, the state doing the best work in education and health.

बीजेपी एक बहुत बड़ा tent है और चुँकि भारत लोकतंत्र है, चीन तो नहीं कि कोइ गलत बोले तो उसको आप गोली से उदा देंगे। तो नरेंद्र मोदी को लोकतंत्र के परिधि को मानना पड़ता है। नहीं तो social issues पर मोदी और नीतिश दोनों के विचार एक जैसे हैं। Narendra Modi's strategy is to talk loudly about development to drown out the voices of the fringe elements inside his own party, and inside the RSS. नीतिश का पार्टी अलग है तो वो तो खुल के बोल सकते हैं और बोलना भी चाहिए। हम तो उनसे भी भी कड़ा बोलते हैं।

On things like land acquisition and labor mobility, and on bullet trains, Narendra Modi is right. Nitish Kumar has to come around to it. Narendra Modi is no corporate stooge. He realizes his government funds are very limited, and if he will rely only on his funds, he can not do much, he needs the private sector to do 70% of what he hopes to achieve. That is why he works so hard to be business friendly.

मोदी को दिल्ली की कुर्सी पर बिठाया ही बिहार की जनता ने। उत्तर प्रदेश तो आसान था, it was a low hanging fruit. बिहार कठिन था। मोदी को मानिए ना मानिए लेकिन बिहार की जनता को तो मानिए।

दिल्ली में नमो, पटना में नीकु + सुमो और वाशिंगटन में बिहारी बाबु सिन्हा। हीरो को एम्बेसडर बनाइए। न वाशिंगटन तो लंदन ही सही।

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Palanquin

What Modi wave? BJP may find it difficult to take on Nitish-Lalu combine in Bihar

Over the last few weeks, politics in election-bound Bihar has taken an interesting turn. One moment, it appears that the BJP is at an advantage, the next as if the party is far from sweeping that state. ..... the issue of leadership remains a major problem for the BJP. The prime worry within the saffron camp is that it does not have a leader to match the stature of Nitish. The lone prominent face with the state BJP is Sushil Kumar Modi, former deputy chief minister but a large section does not support him ....... A dominant section within the BJP wants someone from the Bhumihar community to be projected as the CM candidate. Former minister CP Thakur remains an obvious choice but the problem with the BJP is that if its tries to go with him, the OBC and Dalit voters may turn against the party. ....... the brand value of Nitish who was a no nonsense leader and would discuss only serious matters. ...... Nitish obviously had emerged as the “giant killer” but in the last 2010 polls, he created history when the NDA under him got a massive three-fourth mandate—restricting the opposition to just 37 seats. ...... There is also the possibility of Muslim voters completely dumping the BJP. In the last Lok Sabha polls, some Muslim votes had gone to the BJP but post the alliance between Lalu and Nitish, Muslim voters look more united than ever before. In all likelihood, a strong 16 percent of Muslim votes will go en-bock to the Janata Parivar. But a great relief for the BJP is that the Yadavs, who constitute about 15 percent of the state population, are annoyed with Lalu for accepting Nitish’s leadership and will, in all likelihood, switch over to the saffron camp. Also, a huge chunk of Dalit voters which comprise about 23 percent has now broken ties with the JD-U and will head towards the party where their leader Jitan Ram Manjhi goes.

Bihar: Lalu-Nitish's Janta Parivar may find it difficult to handle Pappu Yadav

Dalits account for some 23 percent of the state’s total population whereas Yadavs’ share is 15 percent. Experts say if Pappu is able to cause a split in the Yadav vote bank, then the Janata Parivar is bound to suffer serious setbacks. ...... Lalu now can’t say with certainty that he commands holds over his fellow caste men. This is underlined from the fact that all the four Yadav candidates fielded by the BJP, such as Ram Kripal Yadav (Paltriputra), Om Prakash Yadav (Siwan), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur) and Hukum Deo Marayan Yadav (Madhubani) emerged victorious in the LS polls, defeating none others than the RJD candidates.

Quake rumour triggers panic; half of Patna's residents spend night in the open

The panic was apparently triggered by a WhatsApp message reportedly shared by a former legislator from Narpatganj in Araria which went viral on the social media. The message quoting the meteorological department, Chhatisgarh, said an earthquake of high magnitude with 13.4 on the Richter scale will hit Bihar twice during the night—first between 10.36 pm and 11.47 pm and next between 1.42 am and 2.20 am. It asked the masses to share it with a maximum number of people and take precautionary step...... As all efforts to send them back to their homes failed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar eventually made rounds of various city parks and asked them not to worry saying the government was with them. He even directed the police to keep a constant vigil on the citizens taking shelter in the parks and the open ground and take care of their safety. In fact, Nitish had gone to Delhi to attend a meeting over merger of the six parties but he cancelled all his programmes and returned to Patna on Saturday afternoon after coming to know about the high intensity quake hitting the state.

'Does Modi do yoga?' asks incredulous Vladimir Putin

"He is a good man, and a personal friend," Putin said in reply to questions from visiting wire service reporters from around the world

Believe it or not, Lalit Modi is the best thing to have happened to Indian politics

Lalit Modi has rocked the cozy back-scratching political world by proving that it’s just as dangerous to be Lalit Modi’s best friend as it is to be Lalit Modi’s ex-friend. He is an equal opportunity destroyer. ...... Lalit Modi is the antithesis of Anna Hazare with his Armani suits, his Rambagh Palace suites and jetsetting exile in London and Ibiza and Montenegro. But unlike Anna, he is a consummate insider. And when an insider explodes, the shit hits the fan. ..... that Modi is now being called the BJP’s Robert Vadra proves that Rahul Gandhi is fighting with one hand tied behind his back. ..... The way to mega-success in India is more often than not greased by the same things Lalit Modi accumulated – friends in high places, favours for friends in high places, favours by friends in high places. ..... Lalit Modi, the BCCI alleged that Modi “manipulated due process, handed out favours, ran the IPL for the benefit of a coterie of family and friends ....... Stories abound about how he used his proximity to Vasundhara Raje during her first term as chief minister to great advantage earning himself the title of “Super Chief Minister” operating out of an opulent suite at Rambagh Palace. ....... how Modi would brag “That was P Chidambaram on the phone, begging me to keep the IPL in India. I told him nothing doing.” And then predicted it would cost the Congress 75 seats. ..... As a student at Duke University in the US, Modi had been charged with drug trafficking, kidnapping and assault after a cocaine deal went wrong. But he managed to come back to India in the middle of his probation pleading ill-health. Perhaps that instilled in him an unshakeable conviction that he can fix anything and eventually come out on top. And that gives him the chutzpah now to burn his bridges because he’s sure that in the end it will all work out for him. ....... That might explain why the man who became powerful by name-dropping is now obsessed with name-bombing instead, damning Vasundhara Raje by revealing stories about her kindness to his cancer-stricken wife. That is an Et tu Brute move that requires serious chutzpah. But then this is the man who thinks nothing of summoning India's top journalists to Montenegro where he is on vacation while a political crisis with him at its centre rocks India. ....... Lalit Modi might end up as a red-corner-notice bhagoda today

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Long Live The Roti?

हिन्दी: देश के उप राष्ट्रपति मोहम्मद हामिद अंसारी पटना में पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री सत्येन्द्र नारायण सिन्हा(छोटे साहब) की 94वीं जयंती पर आयोजित व्याख्यानमाला श्रंखला पर पूर्व सांसद किशोरी सिन्हा और मुख्यमंत्री नीतीश कुमार के साथ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bihar: BJP’s Mission 185 under threat as allies fight over seat sharing

The top leadership of the party is taken by surprise by the aggression being displayed by junior NDA allies with only marginal presence in the state. They have stopped being docile and it does not augur well for the BJP which is caught in its own low intensity conflicts over leadership. Poor handling of the situation could rip apart the umbrella alliance of caste-based outfits, rendering the NDA weak against the combined might of Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar........ As if offering himself as the NDA’s chief minister candidate was not enough, Upendra Kushwaha, leader of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), has even come up with a formula for distribution seats among the allies. As per his formula, BJP should contest on 102 seats—the number of seats it had been spared by the JD(U) while both were parts of the NDA, 74 seats should be allotted to the LJP whereas the remaining 67 seats should go to his party. He even suggested that all the three partners should spare seats in a proportionate way in case Jitan Ram Manjhi becomes parts of the NDA. .... Kushwaha, a creation of Nitish Kumar ..... the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) headed by Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan too is trying to extract its pound of flesh from the BJP. The party with no legislator in the Bihar assembly has announced that it would oppose five candidates from Manjhi’s party ....... LJP, which corners five percent of votes on an average, is scared that Manjhi may emerge as a taller Dalit leader than him. Manjhi represents some 23 percent of Mahadalit population comprising 23 sub-castes of Dalits but he too remains to be tested as his newly-formed Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) is yet to join any election. Manjhi formed the HAM shortly after his rebellion against Nitish in February this year. ...... Right now Manjhi and Paswan, two coalition partners of the BJP, are now engaged in bitter verbal duels on the streets much to the merriment of the grand secular alliance. While the LJP has declared to oppose HAM candidates, Manjhi has dared Paswan to do that ....... Past records show that the BJP has grown up in Bihar more due to bitter rivalries among various splinter groups of the Janata family than its own strength. The party, which enjoys its support primarily among the upper castes and the Bania community, banked on the support of either Samata Party, the Janata Dal (United) or the LJP for its success. This is the first time in 20 years that it will be facing a united Janata family comprising Nitish and Lalu with the Congress and the NCP on their side.

Infographic: Here's how much our MPs lunch is subsidised

items like 'puri sabji' being sold at 88 percent subsidised rates

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कुशवाहा

English: Map of Bihar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Declare Kushwaha NDA's CM face for assembly polls in Bihar: RLSP
BJP's CP Thakur ready to be Bihar CM candidate

According to BJP insiders, Thakur's statement is a reflection of a deep-rooted tussle between leaders of upper castes and OBCs within the party...... In his early 80s, Thakur belongs to the powerful landed upper caste Bhumihars, who are said to be overwhelmingly backing the BJP in post-Mandal politics in the state. ...... "The BJP is likely to announce the name of former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi as the chief ministerial candidate soon," a BJP leader close to Sushil Modi said. ....... Sushil Kumar Modi, who is from a backward caste, is the most influential face of the BJP in Bihar and commands respect even among the upper castes, say some leaders. ....... However, the former Bihar deputy chief minister's disadvantage lies in the fact that two BJP leaders from the backward caste are dead set again .. .... "The BJP in Bihar is a divided house. To project a leader from either the OBCs or the upper castes as a chief ministerial candidate will antagonise the other group. The BJP is not in a position to project any one person against Nitish Kumar, who was declared chief ministerial candidate by the alliance of Janata Dal-United, Rastriya Janata Dal, the Congress and National Congress Party," said a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be named. ....... In the caste-ridden Bihar politics, there are over half a dozen leaders from the upper castes and the backward castes who have staked claims as chief ministerial candidate of the BJP. "All of them are lobbying hard," the BJP leader said.

कुशवाहा को दिल्ली में मन नहीं लग रहा होगा। गुमनाम रहते होंगे। मीटिंग अटेंड करते होंगे तो कितनों को पता भी नहीं चलता होगा कि ये कौन हैं। तो सोंच रहे होंगे दिल्ली से पटना शिफ्ट हो जाते तो थोड़ा visibility बढ़ जाता। उनको कुर्सी भी खाली ही दिख रहा है। सुशील मोदी इंटरेस्ट नहीं दिखा रहे है -- क्या बात है? तो उन्होंने अपने पार्टी में unanimous resolution पास करबा लिया।

 ये कोइ लालु यादव तो नहीं हैं कि जहाँ जाते हो वहाँ टीवी क्यामेरा वाले लोग पिछा कर रहे हो।

जब नाव डगमगाता है तो कितनों को पता भी नहीं चलता। कुछ को लगता है तैराकी का मौका मिल रहा है। देखते देखते कोइ सीपी ठाकुर नाम का तैराक भी सामने आ गया। ये ठाकुर तो आडवाणी से भी सीनियर लगते हैं। अडवाणी के गुट के तो नहीं?

पप्पु यादव: Persona Non Grata?
JD (U) 80-90, RJD 50-60, Congress/Left 10-20
Bihar: The NDA's Turn To Crack?

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JD (U) 80-90, RJD 50-60, Congress/Left 10-20

Defeat BJP worse than in Delhi: CM
Video: Success Story of Bihar - Badh Chala Bihar

हिन्दी: देश के उप राष्ट्रपति मोहम्मद हामिद अंसारी पटना में पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री सत्येन्द्र नारायण सिन्हा(छोटे साहब) की 94वीं जयंती पर आयोजित व्याख्यानमाला श्रंखला पर पूर्व सांसद किशोरी सिन्हा और मुख्यमंत्री नीतीश कुमार के साथ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bihar: The NDA's Turn To Crack?
Princeton University Report On Bihar

At least when Laloo was not sure Nitish was the CM candidate, he had made it clear no one from his family was in the running, and he did not have a candidate in mind, all he was saying was the decision should be taken after the election results, and he was not opposed to Nitish. With Nitish contesting almost all the seats he already has in his kitty, he stands a good chance of retaining most of them. He might even engineer a sweep, and put RJD where the BJP used to be in his alliance. The ball is in the air in Bihar. Right now I am projecting JD (U) at 80-90 seats, and RJD at 50-60 seats and 10-20 seats for others like the Congress and the Left. But those numbers might come down some if the NDA manages to project internal cohesion and unity.

Jaitley's Goods And Services Tax alone should add another two per cent to the country's growth rate. That tax bill is prime recipe for the Dal Se Bada Desh sentiment. There both Nitish and the Congress have to make sense. If India can grow at 10%, it becomes that much easier for Nitish to take Bihar to 15%.

Bihar@2025 = $240 Billion
"They Don't Do Random"
१५% और १०% में फर्क
All Of Bihar Is One Big City
Bihar@2025
India: A 15% Growth Rate Is Possible
Janakpur Patna Kolkata Industrial Corridor
बिहार के लिए फोर्मुला

Cracks appear in Bihar NDA

The RLSP also announced that the party would contest 67 seats and would hold public meetings in 125 constituencies ahead of the elections. Under its seat-sharing formula, the RLSP has allotted 74 seats for Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party and 102 seats for the BJP. The party has ignored the latest entrant into the NDA, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular).

RJD to cross swords with BJP in saffron strongholds in Bihar polls

Sources in JD(U)-RJD combine said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s outfit will contest those seats it had won last time when it fought in alliance with BJP. Though RJD is likely to contest about as many seats as JD(U), it will get seats where BJP had won. ...... JD(U) had clinched 112 seats in 2010 Assembly election, BJP 94 and RJD only 22. Lalu will thus have the difficult task on hand contesting seats it had lost last time, while JD(U) will battle to retain those already in its kitty. ....... NDA sources said BJP will field nominees in almost all seats it had won besides some more, leaving anywhere between 55 and 70 seats for its allies like Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP, Upendra Kushwaha-led RLSP and its new partner and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Aawam Morcha. ...... Almost all the seats the saffron party will spare for its allies are those that had been won by JD(U) last time. ....... The concern for BJP is, however, that Lalu’s core support base of Yadavs and Muslims is bigger and cohesive and has mostly stood by him even in the worst of times. Kumar’s base is relatively small but he believes his track record in governance will win him votes across communities.

BJP's ally declares its chief Upendra Kushwaha as CM candidate in Bihar
Declare Kushwaha NDA's CM face for assembly polls in Bihar: RLSP

BJP's ally Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) on Sunday passed a resolution demanding that its president and union minister Upendra Kushwaha be made NDA's chief ministerial candidate for forthcoming assembly polls in Bihar. ...... The resolution was passed unanimously at the party's two-day state executive meeting at Vaishali Garh near Hajipur, about 30 km north from state capital here, where the party also approved a proposal to contest altogether 67 seats in the assembly election ...... "LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan has withdrawn himself from being candidate for the CM post and our major ally BJP has so far not projected any name as CM face. We don't think that BJP will be able to decide any name in the next three months. Hence, the RLSP decided to offer the name of Kushwaha to be projected as NDA's CM face, because Bihar today needs a 'strong' face to effectively counter the CM candidate of RJD-JD(U)-Congress alliance," Singh said. ...... BJP is yet to decide on a CM candidate with many leaders in the party are of the view that it would be better to go to polls under a collective leadership with PM Narendra Modi's agenda of development. ......... In another resolution passed unanimously, the RLSP said that in the last 2010 assembly polls, the BJP had contested 102 of total 243 assembly seats. And LJP 74 seats. "As per the current political scenario and ground realities, both the parties BJP and LJP should contest same number of seats in 2015 elections and leave the rest 67 seats for the RLSP. It is natural claim of RLSP on the rest 67 seats. Hence the state executive committee unanimously decides to field its candidate on 67 seats in 2015 assembly elections," the resolution reads........ Political analysts say, the BJP, which is yet to finalise its seat-sharing agreement with its allies, is unlikely to concede to the RLSP demand of 67 seats

No dispute in the NDA over a chief ministerial face for Bihar, says Paswan

Exuding confidence that the BJP-led NDA would sweep the upcoming polls with a three-fourth majority, Paswan said the secular alliance and its leaders would be compelled to do 'Yogasana' ....... On the NDA's agenda for electoral success in Bihar, Paswan said the BJP-led coalition would come up with a vision document proposing construction of roads and bridges, and slammed Nitish Kumar for failing to undertake repair of dilapidated bridges on the Ganga in Patna and Mokama.

From wooing foreign investors to UPA bashing: 10 takeaways from Arun Jaitley's US comments

he is in the US "really to be in dialogue with a larger body of investors because the more the investment in India, the more it helps us in our growth process". He participated in a discussion organised by the think tank Council on Foreign Relations. President of investment firm Warburg Pincus and former US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner were also present at the event........ Jaitley said said there are economic reforms in the pipeline which can push the country's economic growth rate above the current 7-7.5 percent range. "Neither the government, nor the people, nor the industry whose representatives, some of whom are here, nobody is very excited about a 7-7.5 percent growth rate in India," Jaitley said during the discussion with Geithner. ......... the next two-three years are going to be very critical for the reforms. “Having covered this distance, the next two-three years are going to be very critical because the series of reform steps, which are in the pipeline, are all to be implemented," he said. ...... The Rajya Sabha has referred the Goods and Services Tax Bill a committee. He said this has shortened the windo of time required for the implementation of the key tax reform. "I now have to run faster to in order to catch up. If nothing unusual happens, hopefully I make it. So I am conscious of the time constraint,” he said. April 2016 is the deadline for the implementation of GST. ...... When asked if more sectors will be opened up for higher stakes of FDI, Jaitley said the government has reviewed FDI “in favour of opening out". "If you would expect these sectoral caps to immediately go up in all sectors, may be not but gradually that is the movement in that direction,” he has been quoted as saying.

Why India needs to be wary of China's ambitious belt and road initiative

China pushing the pet project of its president Xi Jinping -- Belt and Road Initiative, a grandiose $21 trillion project aimed at connecting 4.4 billion people. ...... the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor ....... Much of China’s pledged $46 billion investment in Pakistan is predicated on the CPEC. ...... Ask the Sri Lankans for example! Wherever Beijing has landed it has left a trail of loans and grants with high interest rates. Sri Lanka today owes a debt of anywhere up to six to eight billion US dollars to China for Chinese involvement in infrastructure projects on it soil. ....... Perhaps a fundamental question is who is going to need these new transportation networks the Chinese are proposing as most goods travel around the globe via the cheaper and logistically simpler sea route rather than rail or air transport. ....... Yes, rail route would cut down by half the time taken by sea transport but the question is how such an international rail network would be put in place considering different gauge systems, financial costs and an unstable security environment, to name a few.

Greater trade and people to people contact between Pakistan and China is a good thing. It will pave the way for eventually doing the same between India and Pakistan.

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